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Darwin Awards
2006 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
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Match + Gas = Bad Idea!

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

In his sophmore year at Hawaii University, my father was the proud owner of a Dodge Dart, a car he bought for only $100 from a local friend. At school, he was in a minority of car owning students, and as a result he was often asked by his friends to provide transportation. On one such occasion, my father's roomate needed somebody to pick up his scooter, which had been in the shop for repairs. My dad did the errand, putting the scooter in the back seat of his car. When he returned, my dad parked his car in the field behind the dorms (this was where students parked their cars). He pulled the scooter out of his car, but upon doing so he noticed that some of the gas from the scooter had spilled onto his seat. Looking around for a rag to clean up the mess, my dad spotted a pack of matches. "I know," he thought to himself. "I'll evaporate the gas!" He struck a match and... my dad learned about the laws of physics: match + gas = fire. Afraid his car would explode, my dad backed away from the fire when suddenly a car came screeching into view, and out jumped a tiny Japanese man, armed with a fire extinguisher. He filled the car to the brim with foam, and without a word climbed into his car and drove away.

After lighting his car on fire, and drenching it with extinguisher fluid, my dad sold the car... for $500. Today he runs a 10 billion dollar company.

Submitted on 12/16/2006

Submitted by: George Cardon
Reference: Personal Account, 1977

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

Great? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Awful?
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>> Moderator Scores <<

Graham said:
Neutral: Personal Account
Worl - he had the right idea! The fuel would indeed 'evaporate', along with the rest of the car. So, he owes his current good fortune to an unidentified Japanese man, eh?. Thanks for the submission, Gordon.

James said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I had a Dodge dart myself in college. Decent bucket o' bolts, it was! I'm more surprised he found a chump willing to pay $500 for it! Glad he burned the stupidity out of his system early on!

Jack said:
Neutral: Personal Account

Chip said:
Neutral: Personal Account
Gas and fire again! Hopefully the company he runs today has nothing to do with petroleum! Thanks for the laugh.

Darwin said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Ha ha ha! Very amusing, George. I love this one. First, the idea "I'll evaporate the gas," then the Twilight Zone appearance of the tiny man with a fire extinguisher. Thanks for the submit! Hope your father's OK with his forthcoming notoriety!

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